The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has announced it will withdraw a ₹2,000 banknote from circulation. The currency will remain legal tender before it is abolished in due course.

“In order to complete the exercise on schedule and to allow sufficient time for the public, all banks must provide deposit and/or exchange facilities for ₹2,000 banknotes by September 30, 2023,” RBI said in a press release.

“In order to ensure operational convenience and avoid disruption to the regular business operations of bank branches, banknotes with a value of ₹2,000 can be exchanged at any bank for banknotes of other denominations up to a maximum of ₹20,000 at a time from May 23, 2023 “, says the press release.

The £2,000 banknote was introduced in November 2016 to meet the currency needs of the post-demonetisation economy, with the government withdrawing legal tender status from all £500 and £1,000 notes then in circulation.

“The objective of introducing £2,000 notes was achieved when banknotes in other denominations became plentiful. Therefore, the printing of ₹2,000 denomination banknotes was discontinued in 2018–19. Approximately 89% of the ₹2,000 banknotes were issued before March 2017 and have reached the end of their estimated lifespan of 4 to 5 years,” reads the RBI press release.

“The total value of these notes in circulation has fallen from ₹6.73 lakh crore at its peak on 31 March 2018 (37.3% of notes in circulation) to ₹3.62 lakh crore, which was only ₹3.62 on 31 March accounts for 10.8% of the banknotes in circulation. 2023, according to the banking regulator. “It has also been observed that this denomination is not commonly used for transactions. In addition, the stock of banknotes in other denominations remains sufficient to meet the cash needs of the public. With this in mind, and in line with the Reserve Bank of India’s Clean Note Policy, it was decided to withdraw the £2,000 notes from circulation. The banknotes with a nominal value of ₹2,000 will remain legal tender,” the press release reads.